He's a man of few words anyway — and Oleksandr Usyk only needed one to let us know who he intends to fight once he's taken care of Tony Bellew.

The Ukrainian is undisputed world cruiserweight champ and defends those belts against Liverpudlian Bellew in Manchester this weekend. But having cleaned up his current division he is planning to move up to heavyweight in the next 12 months.

And we all know who's the big catch there!

Asked at Thursday's joint press conference with Bellew if he wants to face Britain's WBO, WBA and IBF ­heavyweight king Joshua in 2019, Usyk's answer was simple. And short.

“Tak,” said the 31-year-old in his native language, which, of course, means “yes” – as if there was any doubt.

You can have these when I'm done! Usyk is likely to quit cruiserweight after facing Bellew (Image: Action Images via Reuters)

How will it go was the next question and the answer was again simple. “Great”. ­Presumably he meant for him.

“Nobody has promised me the fight, but it is going to happen,” he added.

First, he must beat Bellew , who, he admits, is his toughest fight to date, which is some compliment for the Scouser.

Usyk is one of the best ­boxers on the planet, with ­Olympic, world and European gold to his name as an amateur. It took him only 15 ­professional fights to collect all four major belts – the WBO, WBA, IBF and WBA – since he changed codes.

Along with countryman­ and three-weight world champion Vasyl ­Lomachenko, they could claim the two very best in the world come from one country.

Joshua, right, is a three-belt world champion up at heavyweight (Image: Action Images via Reuters)

He trains on the ­outskirts of Kiev in the ­wilderness, where he sleeps on a straw bed and spends his time outside the gym fishing and catching mice that sneak into the spartan living conditions.

Usyk trains his body, but also his mind, with concentration ­exercises given almost as much time as punching sessions. He celebrates wins with ­traditional Cossack dancing rather than trash-talking.

The Ukrainian is not your ­average boxer, for sure, but his extraordinary abilities in the ring are what make him stand out. That has led to Bellew heaping praise on his foet, which, for anyone who knows the Liverpool man, is also rare. But Usyk is not falling into a false sense of security by being putting on a pedestal by Bellew.